Jennifer's Body (20th Century)
Rated R for sexuality, bloody violence, language and brief drug use.
Starring Megan Fox, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Simmons, Adam Brody, Sal Cortez, Ryan Levine, Juan Riedinger, Colin Askey, Chris Pratt, Juno Ruddell, Kyle Gallner, Josh Emerson, J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris.
Written by Diablo Cody.
Directed by Karyn Kusama.
GRADE: C
REVIEWOkay, I get it. Megan Fox is the hottest hottie in the world. As for her acting ability, well... Okay, more on that later. The only thing the folks at 20th Century want you to remember when you chose what movie to attend this weekend is that Megan Fox is the star of
Jennifer's Body, and that the words "body" and "Megan Fox" are somehow closely associated.
Fox stars as Jennifer, a cheerleader at Devil's Kettle High School. For some inexplicable reason, Jennifer is best friends with the somewhat nerdy Anita "Needy" (Amanda Seyfried). One night, Needy and Jennifer go to a local bar to see a new hot rock band from "the city" play. The band is immediately drawn to potential groupie Jennifer, who they believe is a virgin, since they plan to sacrifice her in a satanic ritual so they can become rich and famous.
Before sneaking off into the woods to kill Jennifer, the band burns down the bar and almost everyone in it, creating a high school tragedy for the little town of Devil's Kettle. Needy escapes too, and doesn't approve of Jennifer's adventurous behavior as she willingly gets into the band's van.
The problem is (as you may have already surmised), Jennifer is not a virgin, and sacrificing a non-virgin in a satanic ritual has some nasty side-effects like instead of dying, the supposed virgin turns into a succubus (or demon) that feeds on human flesh to stay healthy.
In Jennifer's case, being healthy also means being hot, and therefore able to attract young boys into secluded places so she eat them alive. If she goes more than a few weeks without feeding on boy-flesh, she becomes a little less hot, somewhat disheveled, and more surly.
Remember the rock band? Their evil plot was to enhance their chances of getting a record deal through Jennifer's virgin sacrifice. Their fortunes immediately improve after the horrific fire that night at the bar. Coupled with their new-found fame as "the band that survived" and a hit song, they are catapulted to musical notoriety, not knowing they have loosed a demon on the testosterone-driven boys of Devil's Kettle.
The story reaches its climax as Needy discovers the truth behind Jennifer's odd behavior and amoral reaction to the death of many of her schoolmates. Needy decides to put Jennifer out of her misery and save her own boyfriend from her evil clutches. The movie ends as Needy battles Jennifer and is left to live with her own consequences.
I went to the
Jennifer's Body screening thinking the movie would truly stink, based on other Megan Fox cinema of the past two years (especially the atrocious
Transformers II, which is one of the worst movies of the year). The good news for Megan Fox fans is
Jennifer's Body is actually a better film than
Transformers II, but then again that's not a very hard thing to do. Some of the dialogue is funny and the so-called "horror" in the movie is done with a considerable amount of camp, but overall, it's just another quirky teen gore-fest disguised as a dark comedy.
One of the few things I can't figure out is why Oscar-winning screenwriter Diablo Cody ever conceived of the script for
Jennifer's Body, other than perhaps she has some sort of fixation on the lives of high school girls. It's hard to believe this is the same person who penned 2007's sweet
Juno. Jennifer's Body could be characterized as
Juno Goes to Hell, with some of the same sharp-witted catch phrases one would assume clever high school girls like Juno might say.
As for Megan Fox's acting ability, she is perfect for a role that requires hotness and a somewhat narcissistic attitude. In short, it would seem that Megan Fox is pretty good at playing Megan Fox and not much else. Suffice to say I don't anticipate seeing her in any Rrenaissance costume dramas very soon.
Another unfortunate reality of
Jennifer's Body is the presence of Amanda Seyfried, a gifted and beautiful actress who is actually playing the lead role, but gets to stand in the shadow of Megan Fox.
